Emergency Room
by Uphill Both Ways
Summary: On Hiatus. Sebastian Michaelis, M. D. is a misanthropic medical genius at Royal London Hospital, and Ciel Phantomhive is the boss that has to deal with his egotistical counterpart.
1. Confrontations

"_Michaelis_!" The exasperated man cried once more, out of breath and and furious. The man in question merely kept walking down the tiled corridor, as if he heard nothing, greeting co-workers along the way. The other, not ready to give up, strode briskly and with purpose towards the retreating figure, barely avoiding collisions with nurses and heavy machines as he did so. When the tracker finally reached the his target, he placed a death-grip on the other man's arm. "Michaelis" turned slowly, giving Ciel an irritating grin. "Oh, Dr. Phantomhive, what a pleasant surprise!" Ciel narrowed his eyes dangerously at the amused man. " You shouldn't frown so much, it makes you look older-"

"Sebastian! Enough of this immaturity. If this kind of behavior continues, you'll be out of work shortly, I'll see to that." Ciel threatened, though Sebastian's facade did not flinch. "Such rash comments, as usual Ciel, if you're not careful you might just drive people away. I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, and even if I did you know there's not even a slight possibility of me getting fired." Sebastian spoke cooly, enjoying the raise he was getting out of his boss. "And what makes you so irreplaceable, Michaelis?" Ciel snapped. Before the other man could retort with another sarcastic comment, he remembered what he had flagged Sebastian down for. "Never mind, just take your damn papers and get out of my sight." Without waiting for further response, the fiery doctor shoved the papers into Sebastian's grasp and stormed off down the hallway once more, effectively scaring innocent bystanders in his way while muttering about useless employees.

"Ouch." Sebastian commented to no one in particular, glancing at the dreaded forms and inwardly groaning. He hated doing paperwork. In fact, when he was lucky enough (which happened quite often) he was able to shuffle such work onto his subordinates who never offered a complaint (to his face, at least).Sebastian began contemplating who the lucky (or not so lucky) person from his team was going to be this time, a figure stepped out from the doorframe beside him. " Smooth, Sebastian, Smooth." Bard commented dryly, falling into step beside Sebastian. "You know, one of these days, Phantomhive might actually fire you." The man taunted, smiling. Sebastian gave his companion a meaningful look, clearly stating that he was crazy.

Though, it probably was true. Sebastian was one of the best doctors in the whole facility, and he knew it. He also made sure that everyone else knew too, every chance he got. His boss, Ciel Phantomhive, always hated his arrogance about it, but had a grudging respect, and liking for the man. The two had a rocky relationship, and were always ready to switch from "friends" to "enemies" at a moment's notice. Their boss and employee status wasn't helping any with the tension. Sebastian saw through the empty threats and hate Ciel threw at him when they were at a disagreement, and Ciel seemed to see through Sebastian. The two often were able to spend time together without a stitch out of work, but when they hit the hospital doors it was all business and pent up stress mixed with agitation, which they took out on each other.

It was Sebastian's lunch break, and he hadn't planned on spending it working on the various forms and paperwork that Ciel had thrust upon him, which is why he had attempted avoiding the man in the first place. Ciel always seemed to be an omen of work-related doom, drifting in the bleached halls of the hospital. Sebastian much preferred the man out of work, as much fun as it was to irritate him. Bard and Sebastian went their separate ways at a fork in the corridors, and Sebastian sat down at his usual table at the cafe. It granted him a pleasant view of the rest of the bustling hospital. He watched focused and anxious nurses and doctors stumbling about the hallways, always moving quickly from room to room. From his wooden seat at the back of the open cafe, he watched an almost endless stream of patients pass by the white and cream expanse of walls, carts of various medical supplies gliding over the glossy brown marble floor, and visitors clambering in through the glass front doors into the grand and bright lobby which he was seated opposite of.

Sebastian smiled into his cup of coffee as he saw his boss chatting animatedly with another co-worker, through his body language Sebastian deduced that he was complaining about something, and his companion seemed to eagerly agree. He saw his friend laugh brightly, and for a moment it made Sebastian happy himself, for no discernible reason, until he watched a certain female approach Ciel.

Lizzy.

Sebastian had no substantial reason to hate the cheery blonde, but he couldn't help noticing that she seemed to crave attention from Ciel, especially when he and Sebastian were in the middle of something. It irritated Sebastian to have Ciel's attention stray from him, even if they were arguing, just to listen to the girl ramble about something or another. Sebastian firmly believed she had no idea what she was doing in the hospital, and had no privilege to be a nurse, and had often complained to Ciel that she was an insult to his medical genius, even going so far as to ask Ciel to fire her. That earned him a smack on the head and a scolding from Ciel. Apparently he saw something in her, what it was, Sebastian would never know. Since Sebastian was unable to do anything about her job, he took some solace in being able to "constructively" criticize her work and deductions, harshly trying to upset her though it never seemed to put her out for more than a few minutes.

Sebastian stopped trying to burn Lizzy with his glare, and threw away his trash. It, unfortunately, was the end of his lunch break. He had to return to a certain bed-ridden patient, for once wishing he had rejected the case when first presented to him. He sighed forlornly at the thought of the crazed bi-polar man, who not only was in the hospital for something as stupid as breaking every bone in him from the waist down after doing a _cannonball_ into a _kiddy_ _pool_, but wanted a gender change_ and_ Sebastian. Sebastian never left the man's room without some kind of violation done to him, and it was so _hard_ not to hurt the patient.

Sebastian walked as slowly as possible down the west wing of the hospital, it seemed to have gotten shorter when Grell Sutcliffe arrived, making Sebastian dread the West Wing. As he approached the room, he took a deep breath to prepare himself, when he heard Jeffree Star blasting from the room. How fitting, Sebastian grimaced, bracing himself against the onslaught at his ears as he entered the room.

"Ah! Sebas-chan~" A voice whined from the hospital room's bed, the red-head growing ecstatic at Sebastian's entrance. "I was afraid you had left me Sebby, you're two minutes late!" The man complained, wrapping his arms around Sebastian's waist as the man tried checking the machines that were closer to Grell than he was comfortable with. Sebastian plastered on a cheesy smile that melted Grell's heart nonetheless, and dared talking to him. "What on earth would've happened in this hospital?" Sebastian asked, prying the other's hands from his body.

Grell pouted at the loss of contact, but smirked widely at Sebastian's question. "I was worried that you might've run off with that pretty-boy boss of yours. Though, you're too gentlemanly to cheat on a lady like that, aren't you Sebby? I don't know what I was thinking! My Sebastian wouldn't leave me~!" Sebastian's expression vaguely shifted from the mention of Ciel, he ignored the man's question and incessant rambling remembering Ciel's initial reaction to the eccentric man.

Ciel always wore a disgusted expression when Sebastian would complain about the patient. The first time they had met was when Ciel had stormed into Grell's room to yell at Sebastian about one thing or another, and Grell, who decided that Ciel was being "evil" to his "Sebbas-chan" started yelling at _Ciel_.

At first it was things about Ciel hurting his Sebastian's feelings, and being mean to the love of his life, and more embarrassing things like that. At Ciel's blank face of disbelief and amusement, Grell thought he was progressing in the one-sided argument and insulted his boss, claiming Ciel didn't know what he was talking about, and that Ciel's brilliance was skin-deep. Sebastian had to hide his amusement, pulling a writhing and fuming Phantomhive out of the hospital room, Grell complaining about Sebastian never holding _him_ like that.

It took a while to soothe Ciel's ego and convince him that Grell was just another crazy patient who didn't know all of the stress that came with the high position Ciel was in. It was true though, being on call 24/7 and non-stop brain-exertion filled anyone with exhaustion.

Ciel avoided Grell like the plague, and ignored Sebastian at the slightest mention of the man. Sebastian had tried joking that perhaps, his boss was jealous at the man's psychotic love claims with Sebastian. Rather than how the doctor had thought his boss would've reacted, Ciel's face had flushed and he had stuttered out a flimsy denial. Sebastian found it amusing but dropped the subject soon after.

The raven breathed a sigh of relief as he slammed the door to the deranged man's room, still hearing Grell's ceaseless farewells, he turned left down the corridor to get to his office, when he bumped into Ciel. Literally. The blue-eyed man had been mindlessly skimming some papers on a clipboard, and completely missed seeing the man making a turn in his direction.

"Gah!" The clipboard clambered to the ground, both men having the wind knocked out of them as their chests collided. Ciel, smaller in stature, took the worst of the impact, falling towards the marbled tile before two strong arms embraced him and stopped him from hitting the ground. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't see- I didn't know you-" Ciel stuttered uselessly, until looking up to the face of his savior. Sebastian raised a brow at the man's wide-eyed look, Ciel blushing furiously as he struggled to stand upright. "Oh, Sebastian, I forgot you had a..._patient_ down here."

"A simple 'Thank you' would suffice." Sebastian murmured, distracted by the other's reaction. "Yes, well, thank you Sebastian. I should be...going....that means you can let go now." Ciel looked anywhere but at Sebastian's face, coughing nervously into his had. Sebastian hadn't realized he hadn't relinquished his hold on the man, though rather than letting him go just yet, he decided to have a little fun. Especially after having to deal with that _problem_. Besides, there were no witnesses around at the moment to injure Ciel's pride. "What if I don't want to?" Sebastian smirked, leaning closer to the other man who paled immediately but still grasped onto his cool demeanor. There were a few long moments of silence.

Feeling that they were getting nowhere, Ciel stopped his fruitless attempts of escaping the stronger man's grasp and asked, "And why wouldn't you want to do that?" The words barely left Ciel's lips before he was pinned against the wall nearest to them. Utterly confused, and increasingly anxious Ciel looked desperately for a way out, or even a glimpse into Sebastian's intentions. "Who knows? I believe I could show you..." Not even Sebastian knew where his words were coming from, he guessed from the combined problem of pent-up tension between him and Ciel, and agitation from encounters with Lizzy and Grell.

Before either of them knew what was going on, so focused on the buzzing in each of their heads, Sebastian leaned closer, and closer into Ciel's precious space, Ciel forgot to be in control, and pissed off at Sebastian's teasing as their foreheads touched. Each had confusion, lust and insecurity swimming through their eyes, Ciel could feel Sebastian's breath on his his lips, bracing for contact that he half flinched from, and half eagerly anticipated, when-

"SEBBYYYYYY!!!" A rambunctious red-head pulled the two men from their reverie's, both flushed and feeling humiliation running thick through their veins, ignoring the slight disappointment each felt. Before Sebastian could question how- or why- Grell had gotten out of his bed, Ciel had grabbed his clipboard from the floor and dashed off down the hallway once more, leaving Sebastian with Grell. "I heard a thud on the wall outside my door, and just had to be sure my Sebby-chan was okay, so I dragged myself into this wheelchair! I had no idea you were two-timing me with _him_!" Grell exclaimed scandalously, loud enough for most of the West Wing to hear, had there been anyone else present at the time. "Grell, we were never together at the first place." Sebastian barely managed to grumble out from between his clenched teeth, upset beyond explanation at the interruption Grell had caused.

* * *

**...**


	2. Reactions

**Madame Red= Angelina (real name)**

* * *

The door slammed loudly behind the breathless man as he stumbled into his office. The blue-eyed doctor turned the lock, shuffled over to his cluttered desk, and attempted to calm himself down. It didn't work. The position he had been in mere minutes before seemed like a dreamy vision he witnessed from afar, but he knew it was _so_, painfully real.

Ciel's heart was doing back flips in his chest and it was so very…_annoying_. He didn't want to feel that way, _especially_ after Sebastian had gotten so close to kissing him. He shouldn't, he _wouldn't_ let himself feel_ disappointed_ at the outcome, he was an_ adult_, not some love-struck school boy! The fact that it had been _Sebastian_ that made Ciel feel so flustered was more humiliating than Grell's interruption. Ciel took multiple deep breaths, and while his stomach settled somewhat he couldn't rid himself of the inflammation in his cheeks.

_You're professional, don't let this hinder your work, it doesn't affect you at all, he never has, you didn't really enjoy_- Ciel cut his thoughts off abruptly, they were only dragging him down again. Work…work would get his mind distracted, it always did.

So, Ciel collected himself as much as possible, and pretended like Sebastian was the last thing on his mind. Delving into his stack of paperwork didn't help as he had planned, it only made him daydream more, and when his thoughts turned to he and Sebastian doing less than civilized things together, he had to quit his attempts at work altogether.

* * *

Sebastian wasn't in a much better state himself, he found himself spacing out in the middle of an operation more than once, focused on his blue-eyed boss. His co-workers suggested he take the day off, that he was probably sick, and he couldn't help but agree. He had never had such distracting thoughts before, he _must've_ contracted some form of illness from a patient, it wasn't such a farfetched idea in a hospital. Sebastian decided to dismiss himself after he finished another check-up with Grell; he just couldn't handle the flamboyant man's rants.

Sebastian strode silently down a wide corridor, heading for his own office to collect his things. Subordinates and patients avoided him, it was easy to see that something was disturbing the medical prodigy, it was best not to disturb a solemn Sebastian as most knew.

* * *

Ciel, like his subordinate, had decided to retire for the afternoon and was slipping on his coat when a familiar nurse came knocking at his glass door.

"Lizzy?" He questioned, letting the blonde woman in. She was as cheerful as usual, lips taut in a grin and green eyes ablaze. "Ciel, did you hear about the event tonight? Angelina told me to tell you if you hadn't already known." Ciel put his briefcase down again, quizzical look on his face. Why hadn't his aunt just told him _herself_? True, she was the head of the hospital, but she had always taken it upon her self to inform Ciel of important must-attend events. "Is it another social gathering?" He asked, knowing the probability was high; the Royal London Hospital was always hosting or attending such gatherings due to its high reputation.

The social gatherings usually included popular charities and smaller offices from around England all hoping for an endowment, support, or recognition from Royal London. Occasionally the higher-ups attended, surveying the doctors discreetly through small introductions and questions. It was crucial for the more important employees to show up, as attendance to such things reflected greatly on one's job. Sometimes the utmost higher-ups that controlled all of the medical stations in England held events just to keep each other updated. The worst part, at least to Ciel, were the small speeches the top doctors had to prepare for these events. He _hated_ speaking in front of crowds, and the fact that his employers would most likely be evaluating added to the pressure, so he hoped that Lizzy wouldn't say that the council wanted him to prepare anything.

"Sure is, London Royal's hosting it at the Community Inn tonight at nine. Angelina wants you, Spears, and Michaelis to represent the hospital." She stated cheerily, grasping the disbelieving man's arms and smiling wider. "_She expects me to have a presentation constructed by _nine TONIGHT?!" Ciel half yelled, staring wide-eyed at his blissful nurse. "Yep! Isn't that _great_?! Ah, Ciel, you're such a great doctor to be able to represent the great Royal London Hospital!" Lizzy congratulated her friend, embracing him in a tight hug. Ciel, all-the-while gaped blankly at the wall opposite his door. Representing with William and Sebastian meant he would have to meet with both of them before the event. And that meant facing Sebastian._ Sebastian_. "Well…_Lizzy_…is that _all_ Angelina required?" Ciel stressed his sudden distaste towards his aunt.

"Oh _right_! She also said that you should dress sharp_, not that you don't always_, and bring a date." Lizzy smiled ear to ear at the last bit, blushing faintly, and gazing doe-eyed pointedly at the ignorant man. "What? Why a _date_? That's never been mandatory before!" Ciel was so very frustrated; he had a lack for patience towards last minute planning. Well, he had a lack of patience _in general_, but sudden news like this really set him off. "She says that the board decided to have a dance before the presentations! Isn't that _splendid_? We've _never_ had a dance before, how _exciting_!"

"A _dance_?! What's wrong with these people? _Who_ decided to change everything?! What happened to proper planning?! What happened to being _prepared_?" Ciel complained hysterically, but Lizzy wouldn't let her enthusiasm slip, more bad news spilling from her lips as Ciel agonized. By the end of the next ten minutes, not only was there a gathering, a dance, and a speech, but, the suddenly creative board members had decided to inflict much more pain on their staff.

The new theme of this tragedy (in Ciel's opinion) was Disney, of all absurd and cliché things, each couple had to make an appearance as a duo from some Disney movie/show, and each presentation had to have a 'Disney Twist' whatever that was, and the last, most ridiculous part was that there would be a vote at the end for the best dressed pair. Ciel had the sudden urge to kill whoever was in charge of the board, but before he got a change to deliberate on a plan, he identified another dilemma…

"…I need a date…"

That's when Lizzy's expression darkened and she took the frozen man and shook him rather violently. "_Ugh_, sometimes you are so _clueless_, Phantomhive!" She muttered, and a confused Ciel was about to ask her what she was talking about, when she stopped shoving him and pressed her lips to his own.

Sebastian was even more infuriated when he walked down the East Wing, heading to the parking lot. He had been stopped by his friend Bard before his first attempt at departure earlier that afternoon. Now, the only thing that occupied his mind was that _damned_ gathering, his presentation, and his unavoidable meeting with William and Ciel. _Ciel_! How could he face the man after the earlier incident? How could he come up with an entire presentation and costume in _six_ _hours_?! That included a powerpoint, a review of his recent cases in the hospital, a summary of his (or rather his forced) opinions on the hospital itself, and to top it all off, some sort of _Disney_ crap. He didn't even _like_ Disney. True, he'd never seen any of the movies or theme parks like seemingly every other person on the planet, and his parents had, _quote from Finni_, "robbed him of his childhood", so he didn't see how he was supposed to put a 'spin' on his presentation.

He had decided to go the easy route and just ask Ran Mao to accompany him despite his many noticeable admirers. Unlike the headstrong Beast, clumsy Maylene, gender confused Grell, or other nameless pretty nurses, Ran Mao was very…_serene_ and enjoyable. Sebastian really just preferred her nonchalance and punctual silence. So, Ran Mao would be the one to decide whatever couple they would go as, and tell him in an hour or so. Until then, all Sebastian could do was stress and work. But mostly stress.

His trepidation was only added to when he passed by his boss's office. Due to the 'modernization' of the hospital, most of the walls and doors had been replaced with sleek glass. Stylish, but left a lot to be desired. Like privacy.

Ciel's office had two solid plaster walls since his office was one that was attached to the structural frame of the building, a corner actually, so the two glass structured walls faced the East Wing of the building (giving Ciel a clear view of Sebastian's office and vice versa) and the parking lot exit, where Sebastian was currently standing flabbergasted.

The auburn-eyed M.D. barely had time to swing the exit doors open violently, when they came back closing quickly sending a gust of wind over him as he caught a glimpse of _his_ Ciel, being kissed by _that woman_. Though there was nothing to betray, and nothing to be angry at other than how Lizzy stole the kiss _he_ wanted, Sebastian felt anger and betrayal bubbling in his stomach.

He was angry with _Lizzy_ for kissing his boss, he was angry at _Ciel_ for not moving away, he was angry at _himself_ for caring!

Ciel hardly had time to notice a stunned Sebastian from outside of his office; his mind was still processing what had happened five minutes prior. He hadn't even fully registered was Lizzy told him before he felt pressure against his lips, and it took until Lizzy had reluctantly pulled back for him to realized he had just been kissed by his subordinate, he forgot why he felt ashamed when he watched Sebastian dash out the door.

Ciel was so confused.

"So, pick me up at eight at my house, I'll give you your costume, we'll be going as the Cinderella couple!!! I can't wait!" Lizzy squealed with delight, waving cheerily at her now official date and pretend fiancé, awaiting a rejection or acceptance. "Yeah…yeah…" Ciel waved off blindly, but Lizzy took it eagerly as an approval and meandered dreamily down the East corridor.

Ciel stood motionless in his dimming office, the afternoon coming to close and the sun glinting warmly off of his glass fortress. Cold and sturdy on the outside, though he was crumbling slowly on the inside, he couldn't even muster up the strength for hysteria. He had a presentation to write. He had imagination to create and tie in. He had sinking feelings towards his date with Lizzy. He had some sick excitement for meeting with Sebastian sometime before the event. He had hormones racing around his body like lightning. He had no idea what he was going to do.

He had four hours.

**What should Sebastian and Ran Mao go as? I was thinking Hercules…I don't know why **

**So, if you have any suggestions for the story you can just leave a lil' review and I shall do what I can do~**

**Yeah, I don't know where Disney came from either. But whatever, it'll all lead to SebaCiel anyway 3**


	3. Denials

Arranging the brief meeting hadn't been as painful as Sebastian expected, he called William who in turn called Ciel about where and when they would discuss the presentations. Sebastian glanced at his watch again, tapping his foot slightly, legs crossed sitting at the window seat of the small café. He numbly watched cars race by in the street beyond the café's emblem, until he heard the tell-tale screech of a stool being pulled out beside him. He met William's cold gaze when he started and turned around, moving his eyes and seeing Ciel stalk in through the café doors behind the brunette.

From William's calculating eyes observing him from his side, and Ciel glowering at the table in front of them, Sebastian couldn't tell who was more disconcerting to be around. Sebastian coughed into his hand, in hopes of starting the meeting and getting it over with quickly. When both of the other men's attentions were on him (though Sebastian could see Ciel's gaze flitting nervously about the café occasionally) the bickering began.

There were quite a few objections from William at Sebastian's proposals, though most without a legitimate reason. It was known that William plainly didn't like Sebastian, though the raven-haired doctor couldn't fathom why, it was said to be his arrogant cockiness that set the other off. Ciel only made a few rather quiet suggestions, and it was rather out of character for the blue-eyed man. Eventually, a few strangled agreements came into play, but it was satisfying to finally have a clue of what they were doing.

The three reputable doctors split up the whole of the presentation into separate sections, Ciel would open and throw some Walter Disney comparisons in with that of the founder of the hospital, throw in some warm memories from the hospital's history then move on to Sebastian. Sebastian would continue to introduce the disease the trio decided on; Circulatory Collapse in honor of Walt Disney, and describe the symptoms, causes, impact on the hospital, staff's treatment with the disease, and the overall 'positive' outcomes (all described in a Disney-esque story manner). Then at last William would come out and discreetly praise the hospital, tie up the ends of the ceremony, name a few people, all three would come out for a bow, then that portion of the even would be over.

Within the next hour, the trio had a timeline and plot for their presentation, vaguely following that of Alice in Wonderland. The character they would use would have a Circulatory Collapse in the sequence of Cause[shock]/Symptoms[arteries begin closing]/Death[Cardiac Arrest] with [Appearance of White Rabbit/Down The Rabbit Hole/Alice awakens. It would be a strange and complicated feat to conquer, but the three were confident. At least they tried to be.

With an hour and a half left, the three men went separate ways, heads sore and eyes aching, and Ciel and Sebastian forgot about the awkward tension as they shook hands and parted from the café. Sebastian grasped a small piece of paper from his passenger seat, analyzing the scribbled address that Ran Mao left, and drove accordingly.

* * *

Ciel sighed impatiently at the traffic clogging the highway as he struggled to get to Lizzy's house. The woman had called him about six times during the meeting, leaving obnoxiously long messages about nothing and everything at the same time, the only thing Ciel remembered from any of them was her incessant glorifying of the outfits she acquired for the two. As the cars began rising from their snail's pace, Ciel frowned and wished that maybe traffic could keep him trapped for the next five hours as to avoid the convention that night. If the annoying and cheesy presentation wasn't enough, he also had to deal with the ever excitable Lizzy, and already he was too tired to put up with much, and knowing her obsessive addiction to clothes and fashion, Ciel knew the outfits she got would probably blind him.

Unfortunately for Ciel, the traffic picked up and went a decently steady pace the rest of the ride. He approached the blonde's door nervously, shuffled along the sidewalk slowly in an effort to calm his racing heart. His mind was whirling, his thoughts racing, his blood dancing through his veins—but for all the wrong reasons. He wasn't at all anxious for his date with the blonde woman, no—to him it felt like just another experience with his childhood friend, he didn't return his co-worker's romance in the least. What Ciel was really thinking about was _Sebastian_. He didn't particularly want to think of him either, but every time he saw the man recently the doctor would be seared into his vision the rest of the day.

Ciel sighed and landed a soft knock on the wooden door, listening patiently for the scattering footsteps rushing towards the entryway. The door opened quickly, sending a rush of lofty air over the momentarily surprised man. The fresh scent of pomegranate and apples flooded his senses and a bright face greeted him. "Oh, Ciel! Come on inside, I've got your clothes for you—oh I'm so very excited!" The green-eyed woman squealed giving her date a large hug and dashing out of sight once more as Ciel stepped inside the inviting house, shutting the door silently behind him.

He looked around the comfortable house, a bit surprised at how very normal it all was, despite his visions of pink and girlish décor all around the environment. The entryway where he stood had a nice mesh of reds, creams and blacks around it and the living room looking area where Lizzy had vanished was an inviting array of deep maroons and mahoganies, the dark satin couches accenting the white carpet nicely. He had to admit, the house was nice.

In an instant the giggling girl had returned to his side with a Victorian-looking suit in her hands which she presented to him. Ciel practically gaped at how not _gaudy_ it was compared to what he thought. "I know you don't like over-doing things, so I got this in hope that it would better suit your tastes." The blonde woman smiled softly at her date's expression.

He quickly had changed into the apparel and was actually quite comfortable in it. Nothing extreme had to be incorporated into the design since Cinderella was not in a dramatic wardrobe, the only extreme things he wore were the shoulder pads. When Ciel emerged from the bathroom, Lizzy went ballistic over how 'handsome' and 'dashing' and 'princely' he looked. After awkwardly agreeing and thanking the blonde who was latched onto him, the couple hit the road.

* * *

Sebastian looked around the rather vacant room, wondering how Ran Mao could live with just the gray scale decorating her house; though he couldn't deny that he was curious. What he was even more interested in at that moment was the costume that was presented to him. Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. The Disney couple his date had chosen seemed rather fitting to him. Ran Mao exhibited calm serenity and gentleness like the Indian princess, and he was rather abrasive, ambitious and self-promoting like the Captain John Smith. There was also the underlying truth that he and Ran Mao, like the _true_ Pocahontas and John Smith, were only close friends.

The exchange between the two fell into a relative silence, it was rather comfortable really, to go from loud hallways and crowded cafes to the fire-lit, gray-scaled living room with just he and Ran Mao. They were dressed already, and spent a while longer on the large black sofa against the wall cherishing the bliss. Sebastian's outfit consisted of not the armor that John usually wore, but he was dressed in the Disney representation with a loose fitting button-down long-sleeved shirt in a typical sky blue, a tighter and fitting indigo vest decorated with silver buttons over the shirt, comfortable dark denim trousers tucked neatly into deep mahogany boots. His hair was slicked back nicely, with a few askew strands framing his face, and he had a silver compass highlighting a pocket in his vest.

His partner wore a slim, tanned leather mini dress with a strap sitting lightly on her left shoulder, an indigo oval pendant contrasted against the pale skin of her collarbone, she wore matching earrings and brown sandals and to top it all off, a temporary tattoo. Ran Mao's hair was draped elegantly down her back, surprising Sebastian slightly with the length since she always had her hair up at the hospital. The quiet and invisible Ran Mao, Sebastian could tell, was going to get a stunning amount of admirers at the event.

When they deemed each other ready, the Pocahontas duo left for the Inn.

* * *

Ciel and Elizabeth strutted through the revolving glass doors, and the interior of the Inn had them admiring the decorations with wide-eyes. The staff had gone all out, and it looked like a matured Disney World inside the Inn.

The lobby, where the two had entered was strung with extravagant chandeliers of an array of astounding colors and lavish burgundy cloth creating a theatre-like magic in accordance with the beautifully crafted paintings that were carved carefully into the dome ceiling. Thousands of small circular mirrors were strung craftily and stylishly on wires that dangled from the roof of the lobby, and created an air of wonderment with the light that glinted beautifully off of them and scattered amazing colors of unknown shades around the entire area. The carpets were elegant, deep colors , and dance floors of polished black marble were dotted randomly and of various sizes in the carpet and gave the illusion of mini islands, and the glass mirrors cast around the rims of the circles of marble were splashed with lights and gave each bubble an ethereal glow.

The walls of the lobby were no where near blank, they were filled with paintings and posters of framed Disney works and photos. There were murals of Cheshire cats, dark eyes, pretty jewels, princesses and mythical creatures. Glass sculptures that caught the light of the chandeliers glittered magnificently. The most notable of the sculptures were Mickey and Minnie mouse, and Walter Disney himself, standing proud and tall in the center of the Inn, surrounded with thousands of tinier but just as notable depictions of his characters in various colors at the foot of his statue.

The designs and intricate details went on and on in the once lofty space, and neither Ciel nor Lizzy could take them in properly before they were distracted by a man in a tuxedo. He spoke in a French accent that Ciel could barley understand; Ciel barely caught the directions the man gave after Lizzy informed him that Ciel was a spokesman and was saved by Lizzy on multiple questions that sounded like threats to the British doctor. By the end of the one-sided conversation, he noticed his face was contorted into one of absolute perturbation. Lizzy gave him a run-down of what the French man had said; apparently he was the Inn's manager and gave directions to the auditorium where Ciel would give his speech with the other men.

Ciel ushered out many thanks to the blonde woman who grinned happily as Ciel dashed down the corridor leading to his destination. The lobby was beginning to fill up with excited and awed guests, so Lizzy decided to mingle until her date's presentation began.

* * *

Ciel opened the door to the auditorium breathless, and found a bemused Sebastian resting against a wall opposite the blue-eyed doctor. "Rough journey?" The raven asked sarcastically as Ciel shuffled over to where his subordinate was standing. Ciel didn't even bother answering the man's question, not in the mood for word games. "Where's William?" Sebastian rolled his eyes as Ciel looked around for the other man, not liking the attention being drawn from him. "He's running late, he told me. He had problems with his date." Ciel scoffed, much like Sebastian had done, both imagining what kind of dating problems the man could have. Handsome, yes, but not much of a ladies man—or _people_ _person_ in general.

Ciel huffed, not comfortable with being alone in the otherwise vacant auditorium with the last man he wanted to see. Ciel moved onto the stage across the room where they would be standing, and he faced the rows of intimidating chairs. Spotlights hit his face and he squinted sharply as Sebastian flicked the lights on, following his boss onto the stage. The crimson-eyed doctor moved to stand beside Ciel, glancing out into temporarily empty area. The bright lights glowed on their hair and highlighted their faces, making the two appear more glorious than they were. The taller doctor sighed and placed a hand on his companion's shoulder. "Hard to believe this'll be packed and obnoxiously loud in about ten minutes, huh?" It was rather hard to imagine such a peaceful place being thrust into ruckus like it would be.

Ciel flushed a little and ripped his shoulder from the other man's grasp, stalking over to the preparation mirrors backstage. "Yeah, sure is." He mumbled out half-heartedly trying to hide his embarrassment from the other man. Sebastian frowned and once again followed his friend. This kind of behavior was odd coming from his boss outside the hospital, since they were used to going out together. Just as Sebastian was getting worried, a flash of memories coursed his vision…the almost kiss…then Grell…then Lizzy's kiss…of course Ciel would be acting weird. Sebastian had effectively blocked out the day's earlier happenings until that point.

Fresh frustration and anger clawed at his stomach, the memory of that _woman's_ lips on _his_ friend's played over and over. Ciel was avoiding him, and that really didn't help his pride or happiness either. Sebastian couldn't admit to himself that _he_ was jealous of _Lizzy_, and continually placed his cries for attention from Ciel on friend-neglection. If that even existed, Sebastian didn't care, as long as he could avoid the truth for a bit longer. He didn't like the new touching void one bit between him and Ciel. It didn't make sense that the stupid _nurse_ got more attention from _his_ best friend, and the _woman_ was allowed to mow him over in a _hug_ but _Sebastian_ couldn't give him a friendly _pat_ on the back? It was ridiculous!

Ciel was ignorant towards Sebastian's inward fuming, too busy combing over his appearance in the dim-lit mirror. He frowned and ran his hands through his soft hair, his bangs were _just_ above his line of sight and Ciel needed a hair cut soon. He was centering his tie for the third time, nothing was wrong with it but he just needed something to fidget with until William arrived and he could relax again. Until then he wanted as much space as possible from _Sebastian_.

It bothered the blue-eyed doctor that his reckless friend could bother him so much, he knew that he was overreacting and that the morning's incident was just some kind of sick joke the doctor was playing for amusement. It wouldn't be the first time he did something so strange. Yet still, new feelings and humiliation stung Ciel's heart and he didn't want them to be there _at_ _all_. Not only were they making him act strangely around the man who could tease him for it, but they were putting a huge strain on his friendship with Sebastian. Did he want the friendship, or did he want something more? Did he want something _less_? It was at the point where he didn't know if he wanted it over and done with, or if he was yearning for more.

He wasn't used to the buzzing that came with his friend's presence. Earlier on in their relationship, Ciel had placed the constant glancing at Sebastian and immediate butterflies in his stomach on the borderline hate he harbored for his co-worker. He knew the feelings weren't normal, but he dealt with them mindlessly to work efficiently with Sebastian. That morning's incident had resurfaced old questions and brought about new ones. Ciel's eyes were hazed and his hands halted in a loose grip on his tie as he dazed off. He jerked into reality as two hands landed heavily on his shoulders, and he glared sharply into the mirror to find Sebastian standing over him and staring back into his eyes.

Ciel was about to snap at the man about personal space, until the other doctor's hands found their way onto his own. Sebastian's fingers worked their way into a grip with Ciel's, who was shaking in suppressed excitement and fear. The crimson gaze in the mirror sent shivers through Ciel's spine, and melted his heart as he watched the man behind him lower his head but not his gaze closer and closer to Ciel's neck. The blue-eyed wreck was too nervous to move, his mind was screaming at him and his body felt numb to his inward commands, until he felt the other man's hands removing his own from the tie, and warm lips hit his cold skin.

Ciel spun around angrily, his wavering eyes hardened and glazed like ice as he shoved Sebastian away. The other man was thoroughly surprised and stumbled backwards from the sudden onslaught of action. The two doctors exchanged glares behind the curtain.

"What the hell was _that_, Sebastian?!" Ciel shouted at the other man, his fists were shaking from fear and excitement still. The other doctor returned his biting voice. "Well geeze, I don't _know_, you looked like you were upset so I was trying to alleviate your stress!" Sebastian flared from rejection, no credible reason for his actions appeared. "_Alleviate my stress_ by sexually harassing me? _Bullshit_! I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but you need a _serious_ reality check, asshole!" Ciel was slowly loosing control; he was confused and tired and completely unprepared for so many huge events to take place on a _Tuesday_.

Sebastian approached the other man steadily again, not stopping the argument. "I think _you're_ the one who needs a reality check, I'm _so sorry_ that I'm worried about my _best friend_ because he's avoiding me, acting like a _jerk_ at work, and going out with a _whore_! If I don't know the best way help, that's not my problem, it's yours for never being straight out with people and just _hiding_ everything!"

Half of what Sebastian was blasting was nonsense, but deep inside, to him, it made sense. It was mostly truths from over the years, little things that he had unconsciously picked up on but not realized until he needed to. Ciel was always masking _something_, not that Sebastian wasn't himself, but he was waiting for someone to care enough to take _his_ mask down, in fact he thought that person was _Ciel_! Ciel wore a mask like a wall to keep _himself_ in and _others_ out. Try as he might, Sebastian couldn't pry his defenses away. It started off small, but built up and the two doctors were making more friction in the hospital than before, and Sebastian only _just_ noticed it, the growing tension that was invisible suddenly sent shitloads of pressure on the two's shoulders.

Ciel looked hurt for a moment; Sebastian didn't realize that he said most of his thoughts out loud. Ciel then slid another mask of frustration on as he met Sebastian head on, stepping into Sebastian's personal space. "Who said I was _hiding_ anything? _You're_ the one who never cares about _shit_, you never cared about my problems before, why bother now?! _It was better that way_! The tension is your fault too, with your damn confrontations like the episode this morning-"

"The tension was there _before_ this morning, Ciel, _way_ too long before! I act the way I do because you push me away and I don't want to pressure you because then you might slip away from me!" Sebastian blurted out unintentionally, immediately regretting his hasty decision and preparing for another rejection.

Just as Ciel was about to retaliate, forehead against Sebastian's and fists clutching the other man's vest, and as fate would have it, a throaty cough interrupted. Both heads snapped around to look at William.

"Well if you two are quite done…"

* * *

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Review!**

**Now go watch some Dr. Tran.**


End file.
